Becoming a Wonderbolt
by DoctorWhoFan22
Summary: Sometimes, the past hurts. This is no different for LightningRod. After having a rough life that nopony should go through, she is accepted to the Wonderbolt Academy. Will she get her dream and become one of the best flyers in Equestria? Read to find out.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Becoming a Wonderbolt: Prolog

9-10 years prior to academy acceptance

"Ouch, daddy, stop, it hurts," a 6 year old LightningRod said, as her father bucked her in the chest. He had been like this cense his wife had died 5 months ago, letting his anger, frustration, and grief out in the painful blows that his daughter received. Day after day, the beatings got worse, the more memories the young filly received, and the more entries were added to the filly's journal.

As the years passed, the filly grew into a shy, kind, and intelligent, though also fairly un-trusting young mare. Also as time passed, the beatings grew harsher, and all the more frequent. After about 9 or 10 years of abuse, the mare couldn't take it anymore. LightningRod, now 16, took the few things she had, including a family picture taken when she was just a filly, when her mother was still alive, a letter of acceptance, and her journal, and left.

She went to the Wonderbolt academy, the training school for the most advanced aerial acrobatics team in Equestria, the Wonderbolts. And it is here, that our story really begins.


	2. Chapter 2: The Academy

Becoming a Wonderbolt: Chapter One: the Academy

"Wow, it's better than I imagined it would be," LightningRod said to herself as she flew toward the group of new trainee Wonderbolts. She landed and put her saddle bag with the latch in the shape of her crossed lightning bolt cutie mark facing up next to another pony's whom was also just putting her bags down. "Hey," the other pony said and walked into the line of new trainees. Everyone was excitedly chatting when all of a sudden, a whistle was blown and everyone quieted down and got into a strict line.

"Alright, so, you think you got what it takes to be a Wonderbolt? You think you got what it takes to be an elite flyer?" A yellow mare said in a commanding voice. "Yes, ma'am!" Lightning said in unison with the others. "Well, let me be the first to say, you _don't_! If you had what it took to be an elite flyer, you would already _be_ a Wonderbolt!" She said then stood in front of one of the other recruits. "Still think you're so special?" The mare asked, the colt she was in front of replied, "N-no, ma'am." The mare then moved to the pony standing next to Lightning. "You look like the weakest flyer here, I bet you'll quit after the first day," she said, and the other pony replied, "One thing you should know about me, ma'am, is that I never quit, ma'am," she said with confidence. Finally, she was standing right in front of Lightning, "I bet you couldn't fly to the first flag pole without getting winded," the mare said. Lightning almost backed away, but didn't, something inside her told her not to. "Would you like to try me, ma'am?" Having gone through 8 months of medical school, Lightning knew how hard she could push herself, and intended to show what she had.

The other mare raised an eyebrow and lowered her sunglasses. "Excuse me," she said, and Lightning swallowed hard, "I-I would like to sh-show what I've got, m-ma'am," she said, even more nervous. The mare thought for a second, "Alright, then, give me 500 laps, all of you," she said, making all of the others moan, "Now!" She said, blew her whistle, and all of the trainees took off.

About 2 and a half hours later, the mare called out "499." 'Alright, Lightning, one more lap, you can do this. Focus, you are Lightning, the speed of light, fast, that is what you are, fast,' Lightning thought to herself as she sped around the final turn. When she crossed in front of the yellow mare, she blew her whistle, "500, land," she ordered to Lightning. Lightning complied, not wanting this mare to hurt her as her father had for the past 10 years. "Very impressive, and you're LightningRod, right?" The mare said, but in a neutral voice. "Y-yes, m-ma'am, thank you, m-ma'am," Lightning stuttered, not sure what to say. "Why don't you go to your room early, you deserve it," the mare said, this surprised Lightning, the only thing she had been told she deserved was a beating, or her father touching her in ways and places that she didn't want him to touch her. All she did was nod and walk off to where she had left her bags. Soon, she noticed that the other mare that she had been next to her in line was following her. She got her bags, as did the other mare.

"Hi," the white coated mare with an orange mane said. "I'm Rainbow Blaze. What's your name?" She asked, and Lightning stuttered her answer, "I-I'm LightningR-Rod. I-it's n-nice to meet y-you, R-Rainbow," she said in a quiet voice, and not making eye contact with the other mare. "Cool, your name really fits your cutie mark," Rainbow said. "Thanks, yours fits your name, too," she said. They didn't say anything else to each other except for 'hi' at times.

Later that day, the trainees gathered in front of a machine. "Now, even though the Wonderbolts are the most elite flying team in Equestria, they still have spin-outs," the yellow mare said and un-covered the machine. "This is the Dizitron. This machine will make you very, and I repeat, _very_ dizzy. Your job is to recover as fast as you possibly can, and come into a smooth landing. Now, who's going to go first?" she said, and no one volunteered. The mare walked up to Rainbow. "You, you'll go first," the mare said. She continued like that, and then got to Lightning, who looked like a nervous wreck at the beginning, but now looked a bit calmer. "You're up Rod," she said, making Lightning a bit mad, she hated being called by the last part of her name. "Could you set the Dizitron to maximum power, ma'am? I want to test my limits," she said. The other mare sensed the sureness in Lightning's voice, and nodded to the controller. He started the machine, and pulled the lever to send Lightning into the air, spinning. Lightning recovered very quickly, and came in with a perfect landing. "5.5 seconds, that's an academy record," the mare said, and everyone was impressed, and later went to their rooms.

The next day, the trainees gathered, all in their uniforms. They were all in pairs, except for Lightning, who stood off to the side. She didn't have a lead pony to train with, so she was required to work with a member of the actual Wonderbolt's team. She was waiting for a mare named Fleetfoot. After a few moments, a mare in a full-fledged Wonderbolt's uniform landed in front of the group, and walked to the yellow mare, who's name she now knew was Spitfire, then walked over to Lightning, and lifted her goggles so that they rested on her forehead. "Hey, you're LightningRod, right?" the mare asked, all Lightning did was nod. "Alright, I'm Fleetfoot, and, well, I'm going to be your lead pony for the week," the mare said and Lightning loosened up a little. Once the exercise for that day was explained, and the group was in teams, the pairs went off Fleetfoot and Lightning were on the blue team, and looking for red flags.

"Hey, Lightning, over there," Fleetfoot said, pointing to a red flag and they flew to it. Fleetfoot tried to grab the flag, but was too big to get into the opening. "Ugh, I can't get to it," she said. Lightning looked at the flag "Hey, I think I can get it. I'm a little thinner than you are, and my arms are a little long, it seems logical that I would be able to get to it," she said, this shocked Fleetfoot a bit, for Lightning had been silent the entire day. Lightning noticed Fleetfoot's shocked expression. "What, I'm quiet, yes, not dumb," she said. "Oh, sorry, it's just; you haven't said anything all day. Give it a shot if you think you can do it, that's one of the Wonderbolt's rules," Fleetfoot said, and Lightning reached in and managed to grab the flag. Once they got the flag, they flew back, and landed just as the whistle blew to end the game. The Blue team had won by one flag, thanks to Lightning. At the end of the day, they all went back to their rooms.

Later that night, Lightning was lying on her bed, writing in her journal when she heard a knock at her door, she went to answer it. She opened the door, to see Spitfire standing there, not wearing her glasses and shirt. "Hello, um, what brings you here?" Lightning asked. "Oh, I just was wondering a few things about you. Can I come in?" Spitfire asked and was let in by Lightning, who closed the door behind them. "So, what do you want to know?" Lightning asked as she put her journal in her saddle bag where she always kept it. "Um, you know, like, why you seemed kinda mad when I called you 'Rod'," Spitfire said and Lightning cast her eyes down. "Oh, yeah. Well, I don't like being called that, I was called Ms. Rod for about three, four years, so, getting called by the last part of my name gets to me in a negative way," Lightning explained, and sat on her bed, ready to kick Spitfire out, but not showing it. "Oh. Okay, so, what about your family, I bet their proud that you were accepted here, huh?" Spitfire said, wanting to be subtle about Lightning's family. Lightning became nervous, she didn't think about how her father would react when she applied to the school, but she was able to act as if everything was normal. "Yeah, my dad's really proud. And I bet my mom would be, too, if she hadn't passed away about ten years ago," she said, and the clock struck 10:30 at night. "Well, we should get going to bed, see me in my office tomorrow afternoon, alright?" Spitfire said, Lightning nodded and Spitfire left. Lightning went to bed after adding a little bit more to her journal, including a quote from her mother:

"Let your heart take flight and the rest of you will follow in time"

These were words that Lightning lived by; she never let her father keep her from perusing her dream of one day becoming a Wonderbolt. Even on the worst of days when her father had been drunk and enraged about something and took it out on her, Lightning just let her heart tell her that one day, things would change, and now, this was the start of those days.

The next day, Lightning and the other trainees met where they always did with their partners. A few moments later, Spitfire came out and told the group that they would be using the academy's obstacle course that day. "Remember, this isn't a race, this is for agility training only, speed is not a major factor in this," Spitfire said and the trainees were allowed to begin. Lightning and Fleetfoot were completely in synch though out the entire exercise. They were also the second team to finish, as well. "Wow, you're great, Lightning! I just know you'll make the team," Fleetfoot said, and sounded like she really meant it.

The morning came and went, and Lightning remembered that she had to go to Spitfire's office for something. "What could she want?" she said to herself, quietly as she nervously walked to Spitfire's office, worrying about what would happen once she walked through the door that lay in front of her.


	3. Chapter 3: The Meeting

Becoming a Wonderbolt: Chapter Two: The Meeting

Lightning knocked on the door to Spitfire's office, her mind abuzz with what Spitfire could want. "Come in," she heard in response, and hesitantly entered. "Y-you wanted to see me, ma'am?" Lightning asked, though she already knew the answer to her own question. "Yes, I did. I've noticed that you're got a scar running down the side of your face, where's that from?" Spitfire asked. Lightning didn't think that the scar she had gotten from her father years ago would affect anything, she also didn't see any other way out of this, than to either lie about the scar, or tell Spitfire about what she had gone through. '_There's no way I'll tell her…if I did, he'd find out like he always does…I wouldn't last another week with him…_' Lightning thought, in nearly a split second, she made her decision. "I-it's nothing, I had an accident as a little filly, that's all," she said, and within a moment of speaking, she knew that Spitfire wasn't buying the story.

"Lightning, I know there's something you aren't saying, I can see it in your eyes. And you may know my reputation, I'm not letting you out of here until you tell me. Continue refusing, I'll just have to send you home, depleting your chances of becoming a Wonderbolt," Spitfire stated, and oh how right she was, if Lightning went home, who knew how long it would be before her father took her out.

Lightning sighed to herself, knowing that she would have to tell Spitfire what her father had done to her. She took a deep breath, nervous. She hadn't told anypony about what went on at home, she always stated that her injuries were either sport or flight injuries, or just accidents from when she was a young filly. "You've got me, ma'am…the scar isn't from an accident…i-it's, from my, father…" she said hesitantly, her voice was no more than a whisper when she stated the last word, concerning Spitfire more than she already was.

Spitfire was a bit shocked, but didn't show it, after a moment of thought, she replied. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know…but, last night, you said your dad was proud that you were accepted. Were you just trying to make things seem alright?" she said, a bit of worry in her voice, a tone that Lightning hadn't heard in 10 years.

Lightning did nothing but cast her eyes down and nod, a bit ashamed in herself for lying to Spitfire. "Yes, ma'am…" she said quietly, hoping that she wouldn't be sent home for lying to the academy's highest authority. After a quiet moment, nothing had happened, and Lightning learned that nothing probably would, for the first time in years, she actually felt safe. Just then, Spitfire began to speak once again.

"Well, I suspect that more had happened at home than just that one incident. I won't push you to tell me, but, I'm going to ask you to write down some other experiences that you had, and then give the pages to me. And you don't have to worry about being sent home, because, though this is a rare thing, even a first, I'm going to make you a Wonderbolt at the end of the week. And I recommend that you maybe see somepony about it, you know, try to at least cope with your past," she said kindly. Spitfire cared for all members, and possible members of the Wonderbolts team, and LightningRod was no exception. And if keeping her away from her home, away from where ever she had come from, then that was what Spitfire was going to do.

Lightning took a moment to process what she was just told, she was a bit shocked, but also relieved at hearing what Spitfire said. "Thank you," was all she said, and gave Spitfire a very slight smile. '_Finally, after all these years, I'm safe. Safe from father, safe from his friends, and the memories…_' she thought, glad to finally have a sense of security, like the one she'd had when her mother was around. Her mother had taken the blows for her in those early years, she had taken the spiteful words, the names, and all the pain, so that Lightning wouldn't have to.

Spitfire noticed a slight look in Lightning's eyes that made her wonder what she was thinking of, but, after what she had just learned about the fastest mare at the academy at the time, she decided not to push anything. "Well, I guess you should go get some rest, it was good to straighten a few things out with you," she said, and returned to her work as Lightning left.


End file.
